Take a Hike with the Claytons

Take a Hike with the Claytons

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Gulfside Trailrides in Santa Rosa Beach, FL 3/17/13


Spring Break 2013!!!!  We didn't come back with any airbrush tanktops, but it was still a great trip with a lot of memories to share!

Departure this time around was a whole lot easier than the times before, mainly because we are learning how to pack for these trips and because we didn't try to rush out on a Friday after work.  This time around, we decided to leave early Saturday morning so we could visit some friends and so we could set up in daylight. :) We left home about 7:15am and drove straight to the Robishaws home in Shalimar, FL so we could spend some time with Ryan and Lisa Forester and their two precious daughters, Loralei and Leighton.  This get-together has become a Spring Break tradition and one we look forward to each year.  Carter had a blast playing with the girls and looking for boats as they passed by the Robishaw's pier.  As with many things in Carter's life, he can't get enough of them, and this was definitely the case with the boats as we made about five separate trips down to the pier in hopes of seeing another boat.  Hearing him scream "boat!" is a lot of fun even if it means I have to walk all the way down to the pier again...


After finishing play time with the Foresters, we continued on to our home for the week ... Gulfside Trailrides!!  Our initial plan was to stay at a state park but apparently you have to book a place during Spring Break about a decade in advance.  Every park near the beach was and had been completely booked.  Kelly did some calling around and one RV park mentioned that Gulfside Trailrides had just opened 16 new camping sites ... so we jumped on it.  The neat thing is that this "campground" is actually a farm dedicated to horses.  (Sidenote: I feel like we are one of the only couples in the world who would say "Sure, let's camp at the horse farm!" when they find out nothing else is open) Gulfside began as a place where vacationers could ride a horse about half a mile to the beach and back, but they have recently branched into the world of RV campsites.  Lucky for us, especially at $40/night!!



 
Even though Siri (rather unreliable lately, by the way) led us to the wrong location, we were able to find the campground and had everything set up by about 3:30.  (Sidenote, this is Kelly.  I think I put in the wrong address, I still love Siri!)  We were excited to set up and use so many of our new Christmas gifts on this trip!  New comforters, unbreakable and pretty place settings, bowls and platters, lanterns, a cooler, and Kelly's favorite grilling sticks!!!  It was a beautiful day and made the setup process that much better, especially when you can hear the ocean waves in the distance!  After setup was complete, we "turned left for food" (as the Gulfside owners said) and were surprised to see that the nice shops and restaurants of Santa Rosa were only about a half mile away!  It was fun to walk around the streets of Santa Rosa with people who stay in condos and houses for the week, knowing that we were "popup camper vacationers." :)  We decided to eat at Amore's Pizzaria in Santa Rosa, and we are so glad we did because Carter got to experience his first karaoke!!  He laughed constantly at the singer and even made friends with her enough to get a few seconds on the mic!  We're just glad he didn't turn Love Shack into Wheels on the Bus (Tin Bus ... Rusted!).  The evening ended with Carter playing chase in a field with some girl his age who had her face painted like a lady bug, all while the St. Patty's Day crew cleaned up the evening's festivities.  Random, but true ... one can't make up a scenario like that.

Experience told us that night #1 would not be a good one for Carter because he normally doesn't sleep well the first night he is away from home.  Plus, this was the first time we had chosen not to use the pack-n-play.  That's right, Carter would be sleeping in a "big boy bed" in the camper.  Exciting!!!  So, prepared for the worst, Mommy and Daddy put Carter to sleep and then sat quietly in the dark of the camper, hoping that he would sleep.  Prayers were definitely answered as he slept like a champ and did not wake up once.  It was a cool evening (about 55 degrees) so everyone bundled a little more than normal.  It was also an interesting evening because Kelly used her portable toilet.  Do what?  Yes, I said it ... portable toilet.  She concocted some kitty litter bucket thingy from a post on Pinterest, and then had the audacity to actually use it in our camper.  Unbelievable.  But hey, anything goes in a popup.  Despite sleeping in a quasi-bathroom, all in all it was a great first night in the camper!

*Another sidenote from Kelly- sorry if this is too much detail.  The kitty litter toilet is a great idea, HOWEVER humans have more volume output than kitties.  Therefore, scooping is not as easy.  Just a thought... won't be doing this again! 

On the way in to the campsite, we noticed The Donut Hole (one of our faves) restaurant very close to us, so needless to say, it was the first stop for us as soon as we woke up.  Two donuts, three cups of coffee, two eggs, some sausage, a cup of juice, and about 5000 calories later, we were finished and ready for the beach!!  Unfortunately, it was a little cool and very windy.  Carter didn't seem to mind as he played in the sand, but everyone else sure didn't like the weather.  After about 30 minutes of play time, we headed back to the camper where Carter slept while we began preparing for dinner.  We also went separately to take showers in the bath house, or something like that.  It's never good to feel like you are getting dirty while you are bathing.  Not fun, but there was running water and we had soap, so I'm assuming cleanliness was somewhat achieved.  Once Carter woke up, we had a chance to go visit the horses.  He had been yelling "Horses!" since we drove up and he had a blast petting and hugging the horses.  It made Daddy a little nervous, but Mommy was fine with it. 

 




Decompressing with Clifford... Happy St. Patrick's Day!
On to the good stuff ... the dinner we prepared.  Holy moly it was amazing.  We're talking steak wrapped in bacon, hot dogs, potatoes, and corn.  High quality camping food for sure.  We made a makeshift dinner table out of our coolers and storage bins and were able to have a family dinner outside of our camper (this site did not have picnic tables like most).  It was peaceful and an overall great evening.  We were lucky to have a campsite that afforded us some privacy because we were on the end and stationed next to two horse trailers that were not in use.  Basically, we had two sites of buffer on one side and the trees on the other.  It's rare in the RV world to have a site where you don't see any other campers, nor hear them, but we had this at Gulfside.  After dinner, we moved into sleeping preparations and were lucky to have another easy night. 

Before you judge... Carter's Dr. Pepper can is NOT open!


Day 3 We started off the day with a hearty breakfast and a visit from this furry friend!





Kelly was determined to eat at the Taco Bar in Seaside, so we made the journey about 15 minutes down the road to enjoy the area.  Before tacos, we took a family walk through Seaside and Watercolor.  We saw lots of people out enjoying the weather, and even found some more kids for Carter to play with in Seaside.  Carter ran wild and was able to work off some energy. 










We finished our Seaside trip with some tacos and then headed back to the camper for nap time.  Again, Carter napped well while we took showers and hung out at the camper.  Since it was supposed to rain, we planned to go to the outlets in Destin as soon as Carter woke up.  He got in about an hour and a half and then we were off to do some shopping, but first we had to give Carter a bath.  For all of the camping couples in the world, they know the pain involved with bathing a two-year-old while not in the comfort of your own home.  Questions "pop up" like crazy: where do we bath in, in what do we bath him, will cold water hurt him, will we look like total trash bathing our naked kid outside of the camper?  Well, here is what we went for ... a tupperware storage bin, soap, and water.  It was surprisingly effective, but very odd to see my child bathing with horses in the background.  It may have been even more odd watching my wife take pictures of this scene.  As a man in this 21st century, I had to pause for a moment and ask myself if this scenario is what I want for my son.  I decided I want him to be clean more than I don't want to look like trash.  Will we use this method again ... probably.  Will I go hide somewhere during this next bathing adventure?  Absolutely.

 
On to the shopping ... as is always the case, we go straight to the Nike outlet first.  Kelly found some sweet Frees that she ended up buying, and another usual occurrence when we're shopping, Daddy sees a bunch he wants but buys nothing. :(  Another Spring Break tradition of ours is eating at Buffalo Jacks so we can enjoy some wings, but Carter killed that by pitching a fit as soon as we got out of the car.  Thanks to his tired state, we instead had to-go reubens and muffalettas from McAllisters.  After enjoying the sandwiches, we went for another walk to see the horses.  This time we were lucky to run into the owner, who graciously allowed Carter to ride on the kids John Deere gator!!!!!  We were both skeptical of his ability to drive this four-wheeler while also staying on, but he did great and had an absolute blast!  It was so much fun to watch!!



Unfortunately, this night's sleep was not so good.  Carter had developed a bit of a head cold and could not sleep due to coughing from his drainage.  Kelly and I enjoyed a campfire outside but by the time we got settled in, Carter was awake and couldn't get back to sleep.  We spent a lot of the evening watching both Clifford the Big Red Dog and the weather.  Carter wanted Clifford and I wanted to know if the approaching thunderstorms were actually going to produce 60mph winds.  Yes, 60 ... that's six zero ... enough to hammer the best of popups (even our mighty Jack).  Fortunately for us, Carter gave us about 2-3 hours of sleep and the weather gave us no straight-line winds. 







Day 4 brought the normal lack-of-sleep conversation ... do we need to go home a day early or risk having another bad sleeping night.  We didn't want to leave because we were scheduled to visit our friends in Destin who always hold a Spring Break Shrimp Boil.  It has more food than you can imagine and is always a highlight of our week.  After initially deciding to leave early, Carter got better thanks to a call-in from Dr. Russell (pediatrician of the century) ... so we decided to stick it out.  We then got ready for the beach and enjoyed by far the best weather yet.  It was about 75 degrees and very clear ... a real beach day.  Carter managed to get sand absolutely everywhere.  He also got his first taste of mid-March gulf water ... very cold.  He did not like the chill on his feet at all, and I found it very funny to watch him run from the waves and then to throw sand at the waves.  Take that water!! 





After showers it was on to the Shrimp Boil!!!  As expected, it was more food than we could imagine, and the company was great as well.  Carter ran around and played with a puppy dog ... and also managed to run into his first glass sliding door.  It's a rite of passage for all boys ... welcome to the world, my son.  Carter finished the trip with a great night's sleep, and we slept great as well.  It was nice to have this since we had considered leaving early. 

As for our ranking, we give Gulfside a 6.8.  The location is great since it is right next to all of the nice parts of Destin, Santa Rosa, and Seaside.  It really is great to have privacy and then drive a short distance to a beach access.  We also really liked the owner and how he went out of his way to help us.  He gave us a firepit to use and also let Carter roam free throughout the grounds.  We loved letting Carter pet horses and ride four-wheelers.  Another definite bonus was the privacy of the grounds.  This may be due in part to the fact that the sites have only been open a month and no one really knows about the area, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.  As for negatives, there were two main ones to note: bathrooms and lack of tree coverage.  Let's start with the bathrooms (camp amenities as Kelly says).  There was mold on the shower curtains and constant mud on the floor.  It just felt nasty being in the bathroom, and that's not good for cleaning.  The lack of tree coverage was also a downer.  When you're camping at the beach you need trees, not a gravel field.  The sun was beating down on us and we sure could have used some more trees (that being said, it made for a nice night of star-gazing).  Tied in to the grounds issues, there were no picnic tables, fire rings, or grills.  These sure are nice to have at campgrounds.

Things we learned on this trip:
1. It is possible to take an entire trip and not get pulled over by the police.  Thankfully the po-po were busy looking for Spring Break kids instead of popup campers like us.
2. Towing a popup absolutely destroys your gas mileage.
3. Kelly is slightly better than Donald in playing gin.  Her narrow 50-41 victory will be avenged...
4. Leaving the popup for a while and expecting the temperature to be perfect inside when you return is unrealistic.  This isn't your home, kiddo ... there is no thermostat.  Basically, it's a crapshoot as to leaving the air on or the windows open.  Take your pick and forget about it.
5. Everyone has a bigger and more comfortable camper than us.  I hesitate to even call theirs "campers" because some of them are bigger than our entire upstairs at home.  Oh well, we love what we do and are proud to be popup owners!!